Ebola in Nigeria: Who came home from Guinea?

Nigeria, the latest country to import the disease, has had four cases, of which three are classed as “probable” Ebola and one as “suspected”, the Geneva-based agency said in a statement.

The case of Patrick Sawyer, an American who died shortly after flying from Liberia at Lagos airport via Togo and Ghana, is still classed as “probable”. The WHO previously said it had not managed to check his sample because courier companies had refused to transport it to the Institut Pasteur in Dakar.

The other two probable Ebola cases in Nigeria were a health-care worker and a Nigerian who had been to Guinea, the WHO said.

Nigeria itself has reported only the cases of Sawyer and, on Monday, one of the doctors who treated him.

A senior official in the Lagos state Ministry of Health declined to comment on the discrepancy.

Earlier, it was assumed that any new Nigerian cases would be healthcare workers in contact with Patrick Sawyer. But now, without explanation, we learn that one probable case is "a Nigerian who had been to Guinea."

So who is this person, when was he or she in Guinea, and when did the person become symptomatic enough to be tested? Are the person's contacts being traced? Is the person in isolation? WHO doesn't say, and neither do the Nigerians.

Nigeria, the latest country to import the disease, has had four cases, of which three are classed as “probable” Ebola and one as “suspected”, the Geneva-based agency said in a statement.

The case of Patrick Sawyer, an American who died shortly after flying from Liberia at Lagos airport via Togo and Ghana, is still classed as “probable”. The WHO previously said it had not managed to check his sample because courier companies had refused to transport it to the Institut Pasteur in Dakar.

The other two probable Ebola cases in Nigeria were a health-care worker and a Nigerian who had been to Guinea, the WHO said.

Nigeria itself has reported only the cases of Sawyer and, on Monday, one of the doctors who treated him.

A senior official in the Lagos state Ministry of Health declined to comment on the discrepancy.

Earlier, it was assumed that any new Nigerian cases would be healthcare workers in contact with Patrick Sawyer. But now, without explanation, we learn that one probable case is "a Nigerian who had been to Guinea."

So who is this person, when was he or she in Guinea, and when did the person become symptomatic enough to be tested? Are the person's contacts being traced? Is the person in isolation? WHO doesn't say, and neither do the Nigerians.